If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15
Such a simple verse. If we love Christ, then we follow the Word of God. It sounds very simple, but living free from sin can be difficult when sin surrounds us daily. I mean the world will tell you sin is the best thing since sliced bread. You can go anywhere, turn on anything, and sin is there waiting for you to partake.
While God can be everywhere, He remains invisible and silent.
His influence?
A Book that we must read.
Christ And Our Parents
You know, this verse in John actually reminds me of John 3:16, we all know that one. If we believe in Christ, then we will obtain everlasting life.
Yet, there is more to believing than just recognizing Christ’s existence. We have to believe and “commit” our lives to Him. We have to love Him, which naturally means we keep His Commandments, being the very Word of God itself.
For just a moment, I want you to think of today’s verse, and compare it to your relationship with your parents. Think of yourself as a small child. Your parents had certain ground rules they wanted you to follow.
- Don’t steal from the cookie jar.
- Don’t drink from the milk jug.
- Make your bed in the morning.
Whatever it was.
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While these rules seemed like nuances to us as children, they were important lessons for us growing up. Your parents had specific reasons for making these sorts of rules.
- They wanted to teach you not to steal, only by earning something could you obtain it.
- They wanted to teach you to respect other people, by considering other people in the household.
- They wanted to teach you good habits and not be lazy, so you present yourself well to those around you.
Simply stated, they wanted to teach you discipline, (Proverbs 13:24).
By disobeying our parents, we dishonored and disappointed them. Our failures never reflected our love toward them, otherwise, we would have shown them our love and respect by heeding their words. In fact, when we broke their rules, it broke their heart in many cases.
When you raise and nurture one along through life, and they rebel against you, it is dreadfully hurtful.
Conclusion
By placing things in this context, it provides us with another perspective to help us consider Christ’s Words, and to think about how our actions make God feel.
We want to make Christ and the Father proud of us, so we follow their Commandments. We adhere to the Word of God and apply it to our lives, and when we do that, it proves our love to Christ, it documents it.
As the book of James teaches, it puts our faith into action through works, this documents our faith.